Ditch tv for your computer?

The more I think about it and after reading this article, it wouldn't be a big change if I ditched my tv.

Who Needs a TV? I’m Watching on a Laptop

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It’s just that I don’t have a large television in my living room and a monthly payment to make to my cable company. I don’t need one: the major networks and many other broadcasters have made it easy to find their shows free online.

Most Americans still watch shows primarily on their televisions. I’ll concede that point to Mr. Wurtzel. But there is much to suggest that watching shows online is more than just a passing fancy. The Internet has proved to be an excellent promotional vehicle. NBC says 7 out of 10 viewers were spurred to watch some shows on television only after sampling them first online. At ABC, 8 percent of viewers they track — or about one out of every 12 people — watch network shows solely online.

Consider the following. My friend Louise uses a projector hooked up to her laptop to watch “Lost” on a white wall in her living room. My 24-year-old niece never owned a television set until I gave her mine. Now she uses it for DVDs and watches “America’s Next Top Model” online. And it’s not just for the cosmotini set. A 40-something executive I know watched the last presidential debate between John McCain and Barack Obama on his home computer.

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The funny thing is, despite not having a television, I actually watch more network programming than I did when I had cable. The difference is that I am more selective. No more flipping channels just to see what’s on, the television equivalent of a one-night stand. Instead I am in a committed relationship.

I saw the Watch the Throne tour, and it was like seeing the moon landing.

3 years, 3 months ago

6 years, 3 months ago

My roomie and I are thinking about this. Our cable is absurdly expensive once our "trial period" is up, so we're thinking of cancelling cable and just hooking om of our computers up to the TV when we both want to watch something.

My fiancée and I have a tv, but we didn't even think of moving here with one, and only bought one because my landlord was offering it for $10. We watch everything online. Which is really only The Office. Netflix has seasons 1-3 online, we've got season four on that Amazon Unbox thing, and NBC offers streaming current episodes.

I haven't had a TV for years. I watch Netflix movies on my laptop, and The Office and 30 Rock online. Television programming, with the occasional exception like PBS, is 100% marketing and spin. I would never pay a cable company for that crap.